Egyptian protesters return to Tahrir Square in Cairo to demand that former regime officials face trial. Photograph: Keystone USA-Zuma/Rex Features

10.39am: Good morning. Welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of events in the Middle East. Here is a summary of major news events:

• Soldiers beat hundreds of protesters with clubs and fired into the air in a pre-dawn raid that wounded 15 people on Saturday to disperse an overnight demonstration in Cairo's central Tahrir Square.The troops eventually withdrew, enabling demonstrators to reoccupy the square and block the streets leading into it. Armed with sticks and other makeshift weapons, they vowed not to leave until the defence minister, the titular head of state, has resigned.A force of around 300 soldiers swept into the square around 3am. and waded into a tent camp in the centre where protesters had formed a human cordon to protect several army officers who had joined their demonstration in defiance of their superiors.

• Yemen has recalled its ambassador from Qatar for consultation after Qatar's prime minister said Gulf states had a plan for embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.Protests in Yemen descended into violence on Friday, with at least five people killed and dozens wounded as Saleh rejected the plan to secure an end to his 32 years in power. Saleh told tens of thousands of supporters in the capital: "We don't get our legitimacy from Qatar or from anyone else ... we reject this belligerent intervention."

• There has been a breakthrough in humanitarian efforts to relieve the besieged Libyan town of Misrata after a ship carrying medical supplies docked there, while the Red Cross said it was sending aid workers to Zawiya, west of Tripoli.The Red Cross began negotiations with Libyan government officials a week ago on access to western areas under its control. The organisation is already deployed in rebel-held eastern territory, mainly in the cities of Benghazi and Tobruk. Rebel fighters say they have meanwhile pushed deeper toward the oil port of Brega, a key prize in the back-and-forth battles with government forces.

• Syrian anti-government activists have called for daily protests against the regime after at least 32 people were killed in the bloodiest day of demonstrations in the country's three-week uprising.Most of the dead were reported in the restive southern city of Deraa, where burials are planned for today.Rights activists and witnesses said security forces opened fire on Friday on tens of thousands of protesters in Deraa, killing 25 people and wounding hundreds.

10.57am: As the fallout from uprisings around the Middle East continues, the most intense round of fighting since Israel's 2008-09 offensive is taking place between Israeli forces and militants in Gaza.

Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip with air strikes and tank shells today, killing four militants, according to Palestinian officials contacted by the Associated Press news agency.

As Palestinian missiles landed in Israel, AP reported:

In all, 18 Gazans have been killed and more than 65 wounded since Israel unleashed the strikes following a Hamas attack on an Israeli school bus on Thursday.

An anti-tank rocket struck the bus, seriously wounding a 16-year-old boy and injuring the driver.

After Israel's devastating military offensive in the winter of 2008-09, Gaza's Hamas rulers had largely observed a ceasefire, and it was not immediately clear why the Islamic militants chose to end their relative restraint.

Israel, in turn, has pledged to strike back hard for the bus attack, in an attempt to restore the deterrence created by the Gaza war.

Early on Saturday, an Israeli air strike struck a car near Rafah in southern Gaza, killing three Hamas militants.

Hamas said one of its top commanders, 29-year-old Tayser Abu Snima, and two of his assistants were killed.

Later, Hamas said a tank shell killed another militant near the Jabalya neighbourhood in Gaza. The Israeli military said it was not aware of a strike involving a tank shell.Overall, the Palestinian death toll since Thursday includes 11 militants, a Hamas policeman and six civilians.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired more than 15 missiles into Israel on Saturday. The rockets reached the vicinity of the Israeli cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheba.

The military confirmed that its newly deployed Iron Dome defence system knocked some of them down. No Israelis were wounded in the attacks.

11.10am: As Egypt turns a new and dangerous corner, we're going to be bringing you more coverage shortly of events in Cairo, where soldiers beat hundreds of protesters with clubs and fired into the air in a pre-dawn raid on Tahrir Square.

In the meantime, here is some quite raw but startling footage capturing the moment when that raid took place. To watch the full video, turn off the auto-refresh button at the top of this page:

They come amid increasing tensions between Egypt's ruling military and protesters impatient at the pace of reform and moves towards prosecuting members of the old regime.

11.51am: Tamer El Said, an Egyptian film-maker, was in Tahrir Square throughout Friday and during the late night attack. My colleague Peter Beaumont has just spoken to him:

There was a huge demonstration that started at about 11 o'clock. There were some military officers who joined it who were dissatisfied with what the Supreme Military Council was doing. There were between 15 and 20 of them. Obviously it was really dangerous for them so the other protesters decided that it would protect them from being arrested by the military police.

"At about 11 o'clock last night the security forces, who had surrounded the square, tried to enter it to try and catch these soldiers but the protesters would not allow them to come in.

There was army and police and special forces. At 3 o'clock they attacked the square. They were firing bullets in the air at first then rubber bullets and then live rounds. They pushed all the demonstrators out of the square. Then they started to chase the protesters into the surrounding streets and into the down town area using tear gas and bullets. I have a friend who was there who said there was continuous shooting.

12.02pm: It's shaping up to be a busy day in terms of news across the Middle East.

12.08pm: Syrian security forces used live ammunition overnight to disperse a pro-democracy protest by hundreds of people in a Sunni district of Latakia, according to a report from Reuters.

The shooting reportedly caused scores of injuries and possible deaths, said residents, including one who saw water trucks hosing down the scene in the Sleibeh district of Latakia, Syria's main port, 210 miles (330km) north-west of the capital.

12.25pm: Relatives of victims of the Lockerbie bombing have asked their lawyers to request a meeting with Moussa Koussa, the former Libyan foreign minister who has defected to Britain.

Koussa is believed to have been an intelligence officer when Pan Am flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie in 1988, leaving 270 people dead.

Moussa Koussa, pictured in Libya before his defection. Credit: EPA

The Press Association reports that Dr Jim Swire, whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the attack, confirmed that the legal team representing the victims' families had been instructed to approach officials with a view to setting up a meeting with Koussa (left).

He warned that anything Koussa said would have to be taken with "a huge pinch of salt", however.

Koussa was head of Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence agency from 1994 and a senior intelligence agent when The Boeing 747 jumbo jet, en route from London to New York, exploded over the Scottish town, killing 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 residents.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was jailed for mass murder in 2001 but the Libyan was returned to Tripoli from Scotland in 2009 on compassionate grounds after doctors treating him for prostate cancer gave him an estimated three months to live.

Swire added: "The underlying problem is that many of us are not satisfied with the verdict that Megrahi was guilty as charged.

"Koussa was at the centre of the regime in 1988, so if anyone knows the role Libya had to play in it, he would. It's important for us to get any information that we can.

"But anything he would say would have to be taken with a huge pinch of salt because of his current predicament."

The request from the victims' families comes after Scottish police and prosecutors met Koussa on Thursday as part of their investigation into the bombing. He arrived in the UK last week.

12.39pm: Rising tensions in Egypt between the military and protesters in Tahrir Square are reflected in this tweet from Mosa'ab Elshamy, an Egyptian student and photographer:

12.46pm:Last night's scenes in Tahrir Square, where military and police stormed in to remove protesters demanding the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak and the removal of Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi as interim head of state, were perhaps inevitable, says colleague Peter Beaumont.

He explains why Egypt could be moving closer to a centre-stage position in the ongoing political earthquakes across the Middle East:

Over the last few weeks – while international attention has been focused on Libya and Yemen – dissatisfaction has been growing rapidly both with the slow pace of reform, the lack of legal moves against Mubarak and his allies, and a growing fear that the army has been undermining the country's revolution.

They are concerns that have seen ever larger numbers turning out in recent Fridays at Tahrir Square which culminated in this Friday's huge protest which drew hundreds of thousands.

Those demonstrators have in the last fortnight delivered a forthright warning to Tantawi, chanting slogans reminding him his legitimacy is derived from the 25th January Revolution but also – of more concern for the army – calling once again for the fall of the regime.

The growing tension has not been missed by the High Council of the Armed Forces, which Tantawi heads.

In an effort to placate groups, including the Youth Revolution Coalition, which emerged from the events of Tahrir Square, it ordered the purging of most of the editors of the country's national press.

But the moves, judging by the scale of yesterday's protest, appear to have been too little and too late – not least over boiling anger over the lack of moves against Mubarak now under house arrest in Sharm el Sheik.

Many in Egypt want to see a trial not only of Mubarak but his son Gamal as well and many of their allies, and insist on an accounting of where the family's wealth came from.

It goes beyond that, as Al Ahram weekly made clear this week. What many desire is a wide-ranging purge of those Mubarak party loyalists in key positions across Egyptian society, including universities and governors.

Despite all this, the proximate trigger for last night's assault may have been something of more direct concern to the army itself – the appearance of several dozen military officers at the demonstration who defied orders to join the protest.

Tusk (left), whose country assumes the European Union's rotating six-month presidency in July, said Europe risked creating an impression it only intervenes when oil supplies are at stake, according to Reuters.

"Although there exists a need to defend civilians from a regime's brutality, isn't the Libyan case yet another example of European hypocrisy in view of the way Europe has behaved towards Gaddafi in recent years or even months?" Tusk told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

"That is one of the reasons for our restraint ... If we want to defend people against dictators, reprisals, torture and prison, that principle must be universal and not invoked only when it is convenient, profitable or safe," Tusk said.

1.10pm: To Libya now, where forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi shelled retreating rebels west of Ajdabiya today, forcing fighters to pull back and open fire with their own heavy weapons to try to hold the town.

As the shelling intensified, a major blast occurred on the outskirts of the city and threw up a mushroom cloud, according to the Associated Press, although it was not immediately clear whether it was a Nato air strike or part of the ground battle.

The government attacks on Ajdabiya quickly changed the fortunes of rebels who had earlier sent units deeper toward the strategic oil port of Brega, 40 miles (65km) from Ajdabiya, and captured two soldiers loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

It's unclear whether government troops would make a push of their own into the eastern town of Ajdabiya, which has been nearly deserted by civilians. But taking control of the town would open the way to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and the eastern port of Tobruk near the Egyptian border.

Most rebel forces pulled back to Ajdabiya when the shelling began, but later appeared to attempt a counter-offensive with heavy machine guns and rockets. Black smoke rose from parts of the town and some buildings were ablaze.

Earlier, rebels had pushed deeper toward Brega, a key prize in the back-and-forth battles with government forces.

Rebels say they took two prisoners after a clash with soldiers near Brega's Bright Star University, outside the government-controlled oil facilities, marking a noticeable advance by rebels against Gaddafi's forces.

The eastern Libyan port has changed hands more than five times since the uprising against Gaddafi's rule began in February. The port and oil storage facilities are strategic for both sides.

Rebels have regrouped on the front lines after a mass retreat Thursday when Nato air strikes accidentally hit a rebel armoured column.

1.26pm: As many as 100,000 people marched earlier today in the Yemeni city of Taiz, where about 400 were injured in previous protests.

The demonstrators blame the local governor, chief of security and leader of the ruling party for the violence, according to an Associated Press report on protesters who have taken to the streets for the second day to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Yemeni government meanwhile, angry over Qatar's suggestion that Saleh resign, recalled its ambassador to the Gulf state.

The official Yemeni news agency Saba said the ambassador was recalled for consultation on the recent statement made by the Qatari prime minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassem, about the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council's offer of mediation between Saleh and the opposition.

AP had more on the situation today in Taiz, where activist Ghazi al-Samei said protesters were in the yard in front of the governor's office and had been there since Friday.

The demonstrators, joined by several members of parliament, are demanding the governor's removal and trial.

Another activist, Abdel Malek al-Youssefi, said Taiz's main streets were filled with black smoke as a result of burning tyres, and that at least 30 children needed to be hospitalised for smoke inhalation.

He said tanks were at the city's outskirts to prevent people from other towns taking part in the rally and that many supporters of the ruling Congress party changed their allegiances and joined the ranks of the opposition.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was arrested with two sons-in-law, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights said in a statement on Saturday after security forces launched a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

"They broke the front door to the house and then beat them severely" along with another man, the group said, adding:"... al-Khawaja was beaten so severely that the blood stain is still visible on the staircase. And when his oldest daughter, Zainab, tried to intervene she was beaten as well."

Al-Khawaja lived in exile for 12 years before he was allowed to return under a general amnesty, according to Reuters.

He was imprisoned for political dissent in 2004 and later pardoned by the king.

The result would give him a third term in power in small Red Sea state, where the opposition initially boycotted the ballot and tried to start Egyptian-style protests in February.

The interior Minister, Yacin Elmi Bouh, said that Guelleh's rival, Mohamed Warsama, got 19.42 percent of votes cast in the election, which had a 69.68 percent turnout, according to Reuters.

Just over 152,000 people are registered to vote in the small Red Sea state which has the only US military base in Africa and the largest French army camp on the continent.

Human Rights Watch said that the US-funded Democracy International election monitoring organisation was expelled from Djibouti in March. The government said the body had failed to maintain its neutrality in the run-up to the vote.

3.34pm: Some more news from Syria now, where Reuters quotes witnesses as saying that Syrian security forces opened fire today on mourners near a mosque in the flashpoint city of Deraa after a mass funeral for pro-democracy protesters.

Security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse thousands of people who were chanting freedom slogans after assembling near the old Omari mosque in the old quarter of the southern city near the border with Jordan, they said.

4.00pm: Chris McGreal has filed a report for the Observer on the sudden shift in mood among rebels in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Anger has been increasing there over what is seen as a retreat by the west from air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces – a fury compounded by two botched Nato raids that killed rebel fighters and growing impatience with the rebel leadership:

Recent setbacks have shaken confidence and raised concerns that Libya might be facing an extended civil war or division, which means divided families among other things.

People in rebel-held areas want to know what the revolutionary council – a 31-person body that functions around a core of 11 people who have been publicly named and meet regularly in Benghazi – is doing about it. But they are getting few answers.

The council's two principal leaders, Mahmoud Jibril and Mustafa Abdul Jalil, are hardly visible. Both men are, in any case, regarded by those dealing directly with them as sincere and well-meaning but lacking in charisma or authority.

One person working closely with the council's day-to-day operations was deeply frustrated at the fact that "they don't understand the need to communicate with the Libyan people".

"They don't understand that no one knows who they are. These lawyers and doctors in Benghazi who say they are a government, it's like kids playing dress-up for a lot of them."

"They don't understand the need to explain to the people what it is they are doing," the source said.

The council meetings themselves reflect the new-found freedoms Libyans in the rebel-held areas have to say what they think without fear of persecution, but they are not necessarily an efficient form of governance.

"They talk a lot. It's seen to be rude to interrupt and everyone who has had to suppress his opinion all these years is enjoying expressing it," the source said.

"But while they talk a lot they've slammed the brakes on making decisions on some things – the constitution, economic planning for the future – because the country is still divided and they don't want to be accused of imposing decisions on the other half of the country when Gaddafi is gone. They say there has to be a national discussion before these decisions can be made."

But even where decisions are made, few of the people affected by them are told.

Domestic opinion is not the priority because of the revolutionaries' need to win international recognition and access to desperately needed Libyan financial assets frozen overseas.

4.16pm: A move by pro-Gaddafi forces into the rebel-held town of Ajdabiya today appears to have been more of a raid than a serious attempt to recapture it.

That's according to the BBC's John Lane, who has just been speaking to the BBC news channel from the eastern city of Benghazi.

Nevertheless, he said that the raid by the pro-Gaddafi force, who came by surprise from positions in the desert, would be regarded as a setback for the rebels.

Coalition aircraft appear to have made no attempt to attack the raiders.

The purpose of the trip was to show that pro-Gaddafi forces are in control of the city, the last in western Libya in active revolt against the regime.

But when the group of journalists arrived they immediately found themselves in the middle of a firefight.

"The battle for Misrata is far from over," reported Garcia Navarro.

On the way out, she said that they met a group of diplomats from Cuba, Venezuela and Serbia who were scheduled to have lunch in the city.

However, the diplomats were instead diverted to the site of a Nato air strike miles in a different direction.

4.52pm: A Libyan opposition group is asking the US for immediate access to frozen assets of Muammar Gaddafi to pay for humanitarian needs in rebel-held areas, according to Reuters:

Ali Aujali, who resigned in February as Libya's ambassador to the United States and now heads Libya's most prominent rebel organization in Washington, in a letter to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the humanitarian conditions have deteriorated in areas held by the rebels.

Rebel groups seeking to overthrow the Libyan leader have been fighting pro-Gaddafi forces in a civil war ignited in February when Gaddafi tried to crush pro-democracy rallies.

Aujali, in the letter dated Thursday, said his group, the transitional national council, "needs immediate access to the Gaddafi regime's frozen assets in U.S. financial institutions to meet the basic needs of the Libyan people."

The United States has frozen more than $34 billion in assets as part of sanctions against Gaddafi and his top officials.

• Syrian security forces fired live ammunition today to disperse a funeral march after at least 37 people were killed on Friday in the single bloodiest day of the country's three-week uprising, according to human rights activists.Several people were wounded in the shooting in Deraa, which has become a flashpoint for violence.The authorities were also reported to have used live ammunition to disperse a pro-democracy protest by hundreds of people in a Sunni district of the city of Latakia in the early hours of Saturday, causing scores of injuries and possible deaths.

• Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi staged what appears to have been a raid today on the rebel-held town of Ajdabiya, an important launching point for rebel offensives towards the oil town of Brega.In the west, the Libyan dictator made his first television appearance for five days as he visited a school in Tripoli, while there was an important humanitarian breakthrough after a Red Cross ship carrying medical supplies docked in the city of Misrata, the scene of an ongoing struggle between pro-Gaddafi forces and rebels.

• Egyptian soldiers beat hundreds of protesters with clubs and fired into the air in a pre-dawn raid to disperse an overnight demonstration in Cairo's central Tahrir Square.The troops eventually withdrew, while several thousand protesters, some armed with sticks and other makeshift weapons, had moved back into the square by this afternoon. They vowed not to leave until the defense minister, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, resigns.

• Yemen has recalled its ambassador from Qatar for consultation after Qatar's prime minister said Gulf states had a plan for embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.Protests in Yemen descended into violence on Friday, with at least five people killed and dozens wounded as Saleh rejected the plan to secure an end to his 32 years in power.He told tens of thousands of supporters in the capital: "We don't get our legitimacy from Qatar or from anyone else ... we reject this belligerent intervention."